What lurks beneath
by White Wolf Phoenix
Summary: A crossover of sorts with the James Herbert novel Domain And Futurama. When Fry opened up a separate dimension to trap the brainspawn, for that split second, little did he know that something else had been released from another place. Something that is the stuff of nightmares. It is now after Fry's opera, and the creatures are almost ready to emerge. Will New New York be able to su
1. Chapter 1

WHAT LURKS BENEATH

The sewers of New New York. Dank, dark, and home to all things weird and wonderful. Not usually a place to feel uneasy. For the surface dwellers, who let's face it, hardly came down to the city's underbelly in the first place, may have felt the shivers of the unknown travelling their spines, but not the mutants. This was their home, their habitat. If anywhere was safe for them, it was here.

Which is why Virgil couldn't figure out why he felt so jumpy. Granted, he wasn't the best at defending himself from danger, considering he was practically a leg. But that was why he went around with groups of others. This often resulted in him being pointed out as particularly pathetic, which hurt, but he preferred that to being attacked by something that thought leg of Virgil sounded appetising.

Now he was with a couple of the others on a foraging mission. Supplies were getting harder and harder to find. All of their usual spots, dumpsters near main manhole covers, deposits of discarded fast food boxes from the drainage ducts near public areas, and open grating through which food was often thrown were all dead ends now. Somebody was getting to the food before they could. They had a few (very few since the fine for feeding mutants had been passed in the last few months) suppliers from up top. But the little they could provide in secret just wasn't enough, and now that their top up points were being compromised, they were having to go down deeper into the tunnels, where most never went, to try and find places to get more food.

In fact, things had gotten so bad, that some of the food collection teams, the one he was part of included, were having to go down into the ruins of Old New York to look for any food that may have survived the centuries underground.

A chilling breeze blew past him, bringing with it an odour he couldn't put an exact name to. A mixture of decay, despair and solitude. It made him feel even worse than he had on the journey down here. What was making him feel this way? He had been in cold, damp, and desolate parts of the sewers before, and they had never affected him this much.

A skittering noise caught his attention, and he whirled, almost toppling over in his hurry to see what had made the noise. Searching the shadows underneath a nearby abandoned car, he could see nothing. Suddenly, something tapped him on top of the head. "AAAH!"

"Whoa! Easy there Virge, it's just me."

Breathing heavily Virgil turned again, pivoting on the ball of his foot, to look into the face of one of his companions on this trip. "Yeah. Sorry Orlo. You just gave me a scare, is all. I thought I heard something."

Orlo tilted his head, his huge bug-like eyes catching the weak light, glittering like a thousand tiny black gems. "Heard something? Like what?"

"I don't know. Some kind of scratching noise."

Orlo stood up straighter, his hunched back, which was in a permanent hump, not letting him get much taller than four feet in height. "Probably rats or something. Can't be anything serious. Nothing much left down here to bother us."

Virgil sighed. "Yeah, I suppose so. But don't you get the feeling that something isn't right?"

"Course I do. Nothing's been right for a while now. What with the food disappearing."

Virgil shifted, so he could flick a look back at the car. "I don't mean just that. I mean… can't you feel it? Like… like somebody's watching us?"

"Aww, you're just being paranoid. It's this place, it does that to you."

"I don't think-"

"Hey!"

The two turned, to look further down the fetid and dusty street to see the third member of their party. He beckoned to them with a brown scaled web-fingered hand. "Are you two coming or not? We gotta keep going. This part of the ruins has already been cleared out."

Orlo shuffled around, swinging the empty sack he carried over his shoulder. "Yeah Tuck, we're coming. Virge is just a little jumpy."

Tuck snorted. "Yeah, like always."

Virgil took one last look at the shadows, then hopped after the other two. He called out to the taller of the three, Tuck, in hopes that he could start them talking, at least then it wouldn't be so quiet. "So, where are we headed?"

Tuck's gravelly voice came back to him. "We gotta go a few more blocks down. Click says he thinks there's a convenience store that we haven't scoped yet."

"You think we'll find anything?" Orlo shifted the sack again, trying to stop it falling off his slanted shoulder. "We can't last much longer without something decent."

"I hope so."

They carried on along the cracked and dirty roadway, pushing rubbish and bits of rubble aside, or in Virgil's case, he hopped over or around them. It took them a few minutes to reach the store front. For the most part (if you didn't consider the smashed roof, and the mould covered walls) the place looked pretty serviceable. Orlo tried to wipe away some grime from one of the windows, but managed to do very little to clean it. "Hmm, doesn't look like anyone's been here yet, that's for sure."

Virgil looked around pensively. "Where's Click? Wasn't he supposed to be here?"

"He will be." Tuck leant against the wall, rubbing his stick thin scaled arm absently. "Stop panicking. Everything's fine."

Orlo shuffled over to the far side of the building, trying to see if there was another way in, as the main doors were shuttered, and it would take a lot of battering to get past that. His overly large foot caught a bit of garbage, making it clatter over the cement. Virgil jumped again. "Oh relax Virge, it was just me. Seriously, man, you're going to give yourself a heart attack at this rate."

"I can't help it." Virgil complained. "There's something wrong here. I know it."

Tuck rolled his black eyes. "The only thing wrong is that we had to bring you along. All's your good for is a lookout, and with how skittish you're acting, you're even gonna be useless at that."

"Leave him alone, Tuck. It's not his fault he's just a leg."

Virgil jumped again. "What was that?"

"Oh, for the love of the bomb!" Tuck growled. "Just stop it! There's nothing-"

From the darkness, something sprang at them. It's long limbs thrashing the air, and an unearthly shriek coming from it's throat, the thing lunged for the kill. Virgil screamed, unable to do much of anything except fall over backwards. Tuck dove for the gap of the alley nearest him, and Orlo rushed to hide behind another abandoned car. Virgil screwed his eyes shut. This was it. The monster had come at last, and he was helpless to fight it, and not able to get away. He whimpered. "Please don't eat me…."

There was a moment of utter silence, and then there came a sound rather like a clock ticking, but in irregular starts. Recognising the sound, Virgil opened his eyes. Orlo came out from behind the car, and Tuck poked his head out of the alley. Tuck wrinkled up his pig-like nose. "Click! You jerk!"

Vergil began to struggle to get up, but couldn't quite manage it. It took Orlo helping him up to get him off the ground. Once upright, he could clearly see that it was Click. The huge insectoid-like mutant was bent double with giggles, his mandible like mouth clicking open and shut on his human head, his hairless scalp reflecting the sparse light. Virgil screwed up his face. "Click, you scared us all half to death."

Click stood up, still chuckling. "Sorry (click) couldn't (click) resist."

Tuck emerged back into the street, trying to seem uncaring, but not quite managing to act unruffled. "Well, next time, you had better resist. Virgil's been on a paranoid trip all the way here, and thanks to you he's probably gonna throw a fit at every little noise."

"So…" Orlo rubbed the top of his head, smoothing back the small patch of wiry hair that grew right on top of his oddly round skull. "You find a way into this place?"

"Yeah. (click) We need (click) to go (click) around (click) back. (click click) Down that (click) alley (click) Tuck hid in."

"Well, come on then. Let's stop wasting time and get on with it." Tuck took the lead, heading back into the alleyway.

They edged their way down the crowded alley, traversing past overflowing trash cans, and piles of discarded junk. Reaching the back of the store, they found the back door had been partially opened. The lock had been smashed completely off. Orlo gestured to it. "You do that?"

"Yup (click). Only (click) way."

Pushing the remnants of the door open, Tuck led the way inside. Glancing around, a smile spread over his dry lips. "Right, looks like we might have something here. Orlo, you take the left, Click you take the right, and I'll take the middle. Virgil?"

The mutant in question hopped in at the back of the group. "Yes?"

"You going to be okay on watch? No panic attacks or false alarms?"

"No problem." Virgil smiled tentatively. "I'll be fine."

"Alright." Tuck started off down his aisle. "Let's gather all we can."

They made quick work of the main room, gathering everything from tinned goods to dried products. Orlo grinned. "Thank goodness for preservatives from the 2100's. Without them, none of this would have survived."

"Yeah." Tuck slung his almost full sack onto his back. "Is that everything here?"

"Not quite (click). There's a (click) back room." Click tapped on the door in question.

Tuck pushed on it. "Hey, something's blocking it." He shoved as hard as he could, but the door opened only a few inches. "There's no way we can get in there to check for anything useful."

"We could (click) break it (click) down?"

Orlo flicked a glance back at the exit, where Virgil was scanning the darkness outside with a nervous attitude. "Wait. Why waste energy? Just let Virge take a look. He can fit through there. If there's nothing important, we'll save ourselves the time and trouble of busting in."

"Good idea." Tuck called out. "Hey, Virgil! Come over here a sec."

Virgil turned to them, looking apprehensive. Hopping over, he seemed unsure about something. "Um, Tuck? I know you told me not to panic, or anything, but I still feel like there's something out there."

"Never mind that now, just come here. We need you to go into the back room and see if there's anything worthwhile in there."

"But… I swear I heard scratching sounds…"

"I told you." Orlo smiled, trying his best to be comforting. "It's probably just rats. Come on man, the sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can go home."

Virgil sighed. "Okay." He hopped to the door, wriggling his way inside. Once on the other side, he looked around him. "There's a desk, some papers… Shelves with appliances on them… a filing cabinet and a safe. The filing cabinet is blocking the door. Looks like it must have fallen against the door during the attack of whatever caused all the damage around here. It's practically wedged right into it."

Tuck's voice was slightly muffled. "Is that all?"

"Hold on, I'll check around the other side of the desk." He hopped over to the other end of the room, and looked around the corner of the desk. "Hey, there's a mini fridge in here. Want me to check it out?"

"Yeah. There might be something… What, Click…? You think so?"

Virgil looked back at the door. "What?"

"Don't worry, Click's just gone to check something. You just concentrate on that fridge."

"Okay, if you say so…" Virgil approached the fridge, looking at it critically. It was a few inches taller than he was, and the handle was an indented gap on the right hand side of the door, running from about halfway up to the top of the door. "Hmm…" Leaning in, he examined it. "I could try grabbing hold with my teeth…"

He could hear muffled voices from the other side of the door, but now that he was focused on something practical, he didn't notice as much what they were saying. He could make out a few words but they seemed unimportant. "….Tuck, there's…outside…don't…you think?"

He gripped the lower edge of the handle with his teeth, having to turn his body on a tilt to do so. Yanking hard, he managed to pull the door open an inch. Concentrating hard, he twisted, getting the toes of his foot in the door and releasing his grip on the handle. Using the side of his forehead, he nudged the door open and peered inside. He had to lean forwards on the ball of his foot to see to the back, as the light inside was busted. "Hmmm…" The main shelf was cracked in two and hung off the ledges of the fridge with barely a strip of metal big enough to hold their weight. It was just an empty, hollow fridge.

Suddenly, from outside in the main part of the building, there was a loud bang, and a chittering scream that could only be Click. Startled, Virgil spun on instinct to look towards the sound. The door being on a spring lock immediately began to close, clunking him on the side of the head. Disorientated, all he could do was wobble unsteadily, as more screams came from the outer room, along with the sound of many skittering claws and low hissing noises. "Oh the bomb! What are they! Aaaah!"

Losing his tenuous grip on his balance, Virgil, terror gripping him, fell backwards for what seemed an eternity, hearing the screams and pleas for help coming from his friends. Something had gotten them. The something he had known was there. It or they had finally come. Was he going to have to face them too? His head hit the back wall of the fridge hard, and he felt his world going black as the fridge door shut, sealing him inside. As his consciousness faded, all he could think about was "Will I ever wake up again? And If my fate is the same as the others, do I even want to?"


	2. Chapter 2

As the sun rose over the rooftops of shining chrome, flexisteel, and Kevlar plating, television screens all over the city of New New York displayed the smiling face of Linda, as she read the first report of the morning. "In today's news. Disturbing sightings in New New York. There have been reports from citizens all over the city claiming to have seen things of a disturbing nature. Here is a recording of one such citizen."

The screen showed the image of a young man, who had brown hair. He was too unremarkable to remember anything about his appearance after seeing him for more than two seconds. "It was horrible. When I first saw it, I couldn't believe my eyes. God help us if this keeps happening." He began to shiver. "I don't think I'll ever be able to walk down that street again…"

Linda reappeared on screen. "That was recorded this morning, but similar accounts have been documented for the past few weeks. Citizens are horrified and appalled that something of this nature is being allowed to go unchecked. This in mind, authorities have encouraged anyone knowing of someone with the intent to wear a hoop skirt to report them immediately to the police, as this is an arrestable offence due to freak accidents in the past."

Taking up his cue, Morbo started into his section of the report. "On a lighter note, humans and assorted pets have been reported missing over the last week. Police spokesmen have stated that they can't figure out what could possibly be causing this to happen, but they are hopeful that it will be resolved in the near future."

Linda shook her head gravely. "Let's hope so, the police have a dire situation with the skirt menaces and need to be able to concentrate."

"Once Morbo's people annihilate Earth, there will be more to fear than skirts! Morbo congratulates the one who takes the humans!" As usual, Linda responded with a chuckle.

In the PE employee lounge, the professor, who was sitting on the couch watching the report shook his head. "Not good news at all. That could be something serious. Hoop skirts are nothing to mess around with."

"Professor, what about the missing people?" Leela, who had been watching the news with her first coffee of the morning, turned to the old man. "I mean, yes, hoop skirt fanatics are nothing to brush aside, but what could be taking people and animals?"

"What? It's not a rogue experiment of mine! Who said it was? What have you heard!"

Leela put up her hands placatingly. "Whoa, easy professor, I haven't heard anything. I was just wondering if you knew what might be doing this?"

The old man scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm… well, it could be any number of things. A madman on the loose, a new reality TV show in the making, or even vanishing cream being used imprudently."

"But how would that work with the fact that animals are going missing too?"

The professor huffed. "I'm a scientist, what would I know about any of that?"

"Well, I just thought-"

Suddenly the professor got up off the couch with a creaking of aged bones, and began shuffling away. "Well, it was nice talking to you, whoever you are. But I have important work to do." He disappeared through the door. "Now, where did I leave that mallet…?"

Through the still open door, a few seconds later, Fry emerged, holding a can of Slurm in his hand. "What was that I heard about a mallet?"

Leela shrugged. "Who knows?" She bit her lip nervously. "So, is Bender with you?"

"He was. He's gone to load his supply of beer into the ship. Any more about where we're supposed to be going this time?"

"Not yet. Hermes has the details this time, but he's on a conference call with someone at the Central Beurocracy about something. The last time I passed by the room, they were still on the greeting formalities."

"Oh." Fry shifted slightly on his feet. "You mind if I sit?"

Leela blinked. "Of course not. Here." She patted the seat next to her.

Fry came over and sat down, playing with the Slurm can in his hands. "Um… so…."

Leela Waited patiently, but Fry seemed more interested in looking at the can than speaking again. "So…?"

"Um, yeah. I was wondering… You know, with the opera and all, if you would maybe consider going out with me?" He looked at her hopefully. "When we get back from this mission?"

"Look, Fry… it's still a little sudden for me to decide… How about we see how this mission goes, and I'll tell you when we get back."

Fry was hesitantly hopeful. "So… that's a possible yes…?"

She smiled slightly at his expression. "Well, it's not a no."

His trademark grin turned supernova. "Well, that's great! I'll go see if Hermes is done with his call. The sooner we leave, the sooner we can get back!" With that he jumped up and jogged out of the room, leaving his empty Slurm can on the arm of the couch.

Leela shook her head with a sigh. She picked up the can, taking it to the kitchen to recycle, along with her empty coffee mug. Amy, who was finishing off washing her hands, turned to her as she came in. "Hey Leela. Why so glum?"

Leela placed her mug on the worktop, and opened the chute that led to the recycling bin in the basement. "I'm not glum."

"Sure, and Zoidberg ate a full meal this morning." Amy took the mug and swished it under the running water, before placing it in the drying rack.

Leela put up her hands, after throwing the can down the chute. "Okay, okay, I admit it, alright? I don't know what to do."

Amy sat down at the table. "Come, sit and tell me about it."

Leela sat down, and folded her arms on the table. "It's Fry."

"Okay, what about him this time?"

"He asked me out again."

Amy leaned forward eagerly. "And?"

"I said I'd think about it, and tell him when we get back from the long distance mission Hermes has for us today."

Amy rolled her eyes. "Spleesh! Leela, why are you still trying to push him away? Hasn't he proven anything to you?"

"It's not that." Leela rubbed her temples, trying to push back the tension she knew would come later. "It's just… I don't want to rush things. And Fry being Fry, he wants everything at once. I don't want to get his hopes too far up, but I don't want to hurt him either."

"I don't think it's like that. Why not give it a try? You'll never know if you don't."

Leela sighed, smiling. "I guess you're right."

"So you'll give it a try?"

"Yes, I think I will."

The door to the kitchen opened, and Bender entered, whistling to himself. "Hey skintubes."

Amy cocked her head at him. "Well, you're happy today."

"And why shouldn't I be? I have my shiny metal ass back! See?" He took great pride in showing them his returned crotch plate. "Good as new."

Leela raised her eyebrow. "And how did you get that back? I thought the Robot Devil still had it?"

"Ah, let's just say I convinced him to give it back in exchange for a few photos."

Leela shook her head. "You blackmailed the Robot Devil? I can't believe you managed to pull that off."

"Of course I did, I'm great, after all. Besides, you must have had your own way of getting back what was took. You're not wearing Calculon's ears after all." He paused. "And while we're on the subject, where did you put them?"

"Their back with Calculon, so no, you can't steal them. And all I needed was to give my ears time to heal. I still get humming from time to time, but that will soon go as well."

Bender looked incredulous. "You gave them back? Are you mad! We could have made some major money with those ears!"

Leela stood up, brushing imaginary dust from her pants. "Precisely why I didn't keep them. I knew you'd start up some scheme that would get us involved in trouble."

As she walked out of the kitchen, Bender followed her. "Hey, I don't scheme. I plot."

"Of course you do. Now, come on, let's go see if Fry managed to talk to Hermes yet."

Walking towards Hermes' office, they saw Fry coming the opposite way, heading towards them. "Hey guys. Hermes is just done with his call, I was coming to find you. The meeting's starting now."

They all started walking to the conference room. Leela gestured to the way they were heading. "Has he said anything?"

Fry shrugged. "Nope. He just said that he wanted us all there before he said anything."

Entering the conference room, they all headed for their usual seats. Once seated, Leela looked to Hermes. "So, what's the mission, Hermes?"

Fry chipped in. "Yeah, and why isn't the professor the one telling us about it?"

Hermes shuffled the papers that were on the table in front of him, as he scanned all of the staff at the table, Leela, Fry, Bender, Amy (who had entered behind the others), then Zoidberg, who was snuffling at an empty box of Bachelor Chow. "Because, dis is a very important mission. The item to be delivered is very sensitive, and if de professor messed up de details, tings would go bad. Very bad."

Amy cut in. "So it's dangerous?"

"Yep. Which is why ya're going with dem, Amy. Ya need to keep an eye on de storage tank dat de chemicals will be transported in." He pushed a clipboard full of papers over to her. "Here's de details about de tank. Temperature control, pressure requirements, and everyting else ya need ta know."

"Chemicals?" Leela looked concerned. "What kind of chemicals?"

Hermes pushed some more papers towards Leela. "Here are de main details. It's an experimental compound. Dey can tell you more about it at ya're destination. Dis is a return mission. Ya're required to stay dere while they use de chemical ya're transporting to complete an experimental serum, then ya're to transport de serum, along with a few personnel back here ta Earth."

"But we don't usually do personnel transport." Leela peered at the papers. "Or return journeys, for that matter."

Bender leaned back in his chair. "Yeah, what's the deal?"

"Dis is no normal mission. I can't tell ya much now, for security reasons. But dey will explain everyting when you get to where ya're goin'. I'm going to sort out containment and other issues while ya're gone."

Bender, his interest peaked, flicked his eye sensors to the paperwork held in both Amy's and Leela's hands. "So, this stuff is expensive, huh? And this place we're going is top secret I bet…"

"Yes, but don' get any ideas, ya bucket o' bolts." Hermes fished in his pocket pulling out a small hand held remote, with two buttons on it. "If ya try anytin' Leela will have dis, a remote on/off switch to ya patriotism chip. Dis is a matter of security, and de authorities don' want de public panickin'. So only we know about dis. Breathe a word to anyone else, and ya're scrap metal." He looked around, as he passed the control to Leela. "And anyone else is cannon fodda fer de next round of job deserters being fired inta de sun, ya got it?"

Fry blinked. "So, if we tell anyone, we get blasted into the sun?"

Bender folded his arms. "And you think that'll stop me?"

Leela glared at him. "How about if I introduce you to Nibbler's new triple speed can opener?"

"Yup, that'll do it." Bender slumped in his chair. "Okay, I won't touch the stuff, but anything else is up for grabs."

Leela turned her attention back to Hermes. "So I get why Amy's coming, but why is Zoidberg here?"

"Because of de nature of de chemicals, a doctor needs ta be present. Dey wouldn't give us de contract widout being assured dat a medical practitioner would go along, and Zoidberg is, dare I say it, de best we have. Dis is worth a lot of money, and we need to do dis properly." Hermes sighed. "And dat means sendin' Zoidberg, too."

Zoidberg threw up his claws. "Hooray! I'm going on a secret mission with friends!"

Leela scanned the paperwork. "It says here that we're headed to a research facility on Braksa's moon, Cerul Lume."

"Dat's right. It's a couple of days away, so ya had better stock de ship for de journey fer both ways."

Bender stood up. "Well, if that's all we have to do, then I'm going to catch some All My Circuits. Today is when Calculon meets his evil twin's second personality who wants to kill his cousin twice removed on his father's side while reconciling with his estranged son. It's gonna be a real rollercoaster." With that, he clumped off to the lounge.

Fry blinked. "Did anybody but me not get all that?"

Amy shook her head. "I sure didn't."

Leela shuffled the papers in her hands again. "Me either. Well, Nibbler's here, and I need to stock his food cupboard in the ship, and then get a few other things together. And since Bender thinks he's all set. Fry, do you think he has enough beer to last the trip?"

Fry looked at her a little nonplussed. "You're asking me?"

She smiled. "Of course. You saw how much he brought with him today, right?"

His answer was hesitant. "Yeah…"

"So, would you say he has enough to last him till we get back?"

Fry screwed up his face in thought. "I'd say so, yeah."

Leela nodded. "Well, that's good enough for me." Fry stared at her disbelievingly as she turned to Hermes. "Well, you'd best show me where this thing is." Turning back to the table at large she said. "Right, gather what you need for a journey of a week at a minimum. Amy, you had better come with us to take a look before you start collecting your things together."

"I'll be right with you." Amy waved them off. "I just want to have a quick flick through these papers to see if I need to bring any major tools."

"Right." Hermes stood. "We'll be down in de hanger storage room." He and Leela walked off, discussing finer details of the mission.

Fry looked after them, his expression still unbelieving. "What was that about?"

"Hmm?" Amy looked up from her papers. "Oh, you mean Leela asking you your opinion?"

"Yeah."

Amy smiled. "Let's just say she's coming around." With that, Amy got up to follow the other two, still flicking through her clipboard.

Fry blinked, and then looked to Zoidberg. "No point in asking you, is there, doc?"

Zoidberg pulled his head from inside the box which he had returned his attention to. "Asking me about what, my friend?"

"Never mind, doc. Never mind."

It took a few hours for everyone to gather their possessions. Leela called the crew to meet in the hanger to be on hand for when the tank was loaded. She and Fry stood by the winch, ready to hoist. "Is everything set, Amy?"

Amy did one final check on the pressure gauges on the side of the tank. Seemingly satisfied, she gave the thumbs up. "Ready. Winch away."

With a loud whir, the magnetic winch lowered to the tank, clunking as the two made contact. Toggling the switch for the magnet's intensity, Fry made sure the connection was solid, before lifting the load and swivelling it so that the tank rested snugly into the clamp moorings that Amy had bolted into the cargo bay floor to hold the tank steady. Leela made sure it was safely down, before calling to Fry. "Okay, cut the magnet." Fry did so, and Leela turned to Bender, who was leaning against the cargo bay wall, staring at his manipulator hands. "Bender, help me snap the manual clamps down."

"What do I look like, you're slave?"

Leela frowned. "Bender, come over here and put these clamps on, or so help me, I'll use the remote."

Bender clumped over, grumbling to himself. "Stupid chip…"

Once the tank was fully secured, Leela set about taking off. She checked over the controls and decided that everything was working as it should. She flipped the intercom to the cargo bay. "Amy, you ready for take off?"

"Yep. Go for it. I've got everything running smooth down here."

Leela nodded, flipping the intercom back to standby. Zoidberg was safely stowed away in the medical bay, Nibbler was napping in her quarters, and Fry and Bender were at their stations. Turning the ignition key, the engines whined, and then roared to life, as the ramp lifted, and they blasted off into their next mission.


	3. Chapter 3

Blanket Disclaimer: For all past and current chapters of this fiction let it be known that I neither own, nor claim to own, the rights to any and all characters/places/concepts that appear/were created by/for/in Futurama or the Rats Trilogy, specifically Domain.

Author's note: This is the furthest I have come to completing this story so far. I am working on Chapter 4 at the moment. Any suggestions or comments are welcome, be they good bad or just plain nonsensical. Thank you for taking the time to read and I hope you enjoy.

For all intents and purposes, the outgoing journey went smoothly. They were already halfway there, and there had been no life-threatening incidents of any kind, if you didn't count Zoidberg nearly choking on lunch, apparently Bender's red red hot "shoot fire out of your ears" chilli sauce didn't go down the right tube. Although considering how many stomachs Zoidberg had, which tube that was exactly was a mystery to them all. Luckily enough, Fry dumping a cooler of water down his throat seemed to do the trick.

Amy sighed, shifting on her chair as she eyed the large green tank that was firmly clamped to the cargo bay floor. She had been tasked to keep an eye on it, which was proving to be an easy enough job. The tank was a Duratech model, one of the only companies in the storage business that had managed to stay afloat in competition with Mom's Friendly Storage Systems Company. The only reason being that they were good at what they did, and this particular piece of technology proved it. The thing nearly moderated itself. Thus, despite her job being crucial in case of malfunction, it was proving to be majorly boring. "…I wonder what Kiffy is doing?"

Her musing was cut short by the door to the main section of the ship opening up, and Fry and Bender walking in, dragging something between them. Fry, who was walking in backwards, smiled over his shoulder at her. "Hey Amy, we've brought your Insta-bed."

Bender, who was only holding onto the blocky piece of furniture with one manipulator, his other occupied with flicking through the latest issue of his favourite magazine, huffed. "Yeah, and you had better be grateful. And by grateful I mean you had better pay me. This is taking out minutes of valuable me time."

Amy rolled her eyes. "Sure." She threw him twenty dollars, and he let go of the Insta-bed to grab it and put it in his chest cabinet. "Satisfied?"

"Yup." Turning, he clumped out, whistling happily to himself, still flicking through the magazine.

Fry grunted, as he was left with the weight of the bed. "Geez, a little warning would be nice."

Amy giggled, putting her hand to her mouth. "Why were you two carrying it, anyway?"

Fry blinked at her. "Um… because Leela said we should bring it to you, and the hover dolly is on the fritz?"

"No." Amy shook her head. "I mean, why didn't you just use the mobility function?"

"The what now?"

"The mobility function. Here, look." Amy bent, pressing a small button on the side of the blocky, box-shaped apparatus. "You push this and…"

All of a sudden, the Insta-bed began to float, hovering a few inches off the floor. Fry's eyes widened. "But…? Why…? Who…? Why didn't…? Bender never said anything about that."

Amy shrugged. "He probably didn't know, come to think of it. This is a brand new model, after all. I bought it last week."

Fry nudged the floating equipment with his finger, it hovered forward with the slightest pressure. "Cool. So where do you want it?"

"Over there." She gestured to a spot by the side of the tank, nearest to the read-outs. "At least I can do this in comfort."

Fry pushed the Insta-bed to the desired spot. "Really? This thing doesn't look like it would be comfortable, it's just a big box. Besides, I didn't think portable beds were supposed to be. I remember this camp bed I once had when me and Yancy would camp out in the back yard. It was small, cramped, and always had a family of ants living in it." He smiled fondly. "Yep, that bed was a trooper."

"It's not just a box, Fry. Press the button I used twice and stand back."

Fry pushed the button twice in quick succession and jumped back. Having been surprised by futuristic gadgets before (most of which came from the professor's twisted imagination) he was well aware that if someone said 'stand back' they meant it. With a whir of mechanical workings the box opened. It unfolded upon itself, disgorging from inside itself a complete miniature bedroom set. Including a queen size bed with curtains, a bedside table with lamp and vanity table complete with lights. Robotic arms extended from under the bed frame, placing pink silk sheets on the bed, tucking them in precisely and fluffing the cream coloured pillows for maximum comfort. Fry's jaw dropped. "Whoa…"

Amy frowned. "Aww, I thought this was the model that came with a foot bath. Oh well, I guess I'll make do."

"Make…do…?" Fry stared at her. "Amy, this is fancier than my entire room back in the twentieth century. And it's definitely not a camp bed."

Amy shrugged, sitting down on the side of her newly installed bed. "Go figure. Well, how are things going on the bridge? Anything interesting?"

Fry leaned against the vanity table. "Nah, not really. Zoidberg hasn't come out of the med bay in a while, and Bender's been coming up with new ways to make floor detergent edible."

"Floor detergent? Has he managed to actually make something that doesn't explode?"

Fry grimaced. "Yes. Let's just say that if you get the dessert that looks foamy, don't eat it."

"Thanks for the heads up." Amy paused for a second. "And how about you and Leela? How are things?"

Fry grinned. "Looking up. She said that she's gonna think about going on a date with me after this mission's done."

Amy matched his grin. "That's great! So, any ideas of where you'll take her?"

"Yeah, I was thinking a meal at Elzar's, and then a walk in the park."

"That's good for a start, but where will you go after the park?"

Fry's smile dimmed. "After?"

"Yeah. After the park, where will you take her to round off the evening?"

"Um…" Fry scratched his head. "I'm not sure…" He looked worried. "I want it to be perfect, but I can't think of anywhere."

"Don't panic Fry." Amy stood, putting a hand on his shoulder. "If we're back within the week, you could always take her to O'Xorgnax's. They're having a dance week. No tables, just a huge dance floor. You can take her there."

"Do you think she would like that?"

Amy smiled reassuringly. "Sure she would."

Fry swept a hand over his forehead. "Phew. At least you know what you're doing, thanks Amy."

Amy turned, looking at the tank read-outs yet again. "No problem. Besides, I need something to occupy me. This job is boring."

Fry stepped to her side, peering at the various flashing lights and numbered gauges. "So, any idea what this stuff is?"

"Nope." Amy squinted at the largest dial, which read "inner temperature" The needle was hovering between two marks on the dial face. "But on the instructions I was given it says something about to keep it fully airtight in case of contamination and danger to personnel."

"So whatever's in there could do some damage to us?"

"Yeah. I guess we'll know more about it when we get to this research centre place." She ticked off something on the chart in her wad of paperwork. "That's the check done for this hour."

Turning to face her, Fry sighed. "So, we've touched on how I'm doing, but how are you and Kif?"

Amy plopped down onto the bed again, laying her clipboard to the side. "Good, I guess. I miss him, though."

Fry sat next to her. "I thought he was going to spend his Next shore leave with you? That's only a week away. So you'll get to see him then, right?"

Amy snorted. "No. Not now. He's had to put his leave off for who knows how long because of some stupid 'Top Secret Mission'." She made air quotes for emphasis on the last three words. "Apparently it's something really important and he's needed by Zapp."

Fry put his arms on his legs and leant forwards, blowing a breath out slowly. "Let's face it, Amy, when doesn't the man need Kif for something?"

"Yeah, but it always seems to be when I'm going to get to see him for more than five minutes that something comes up, or there's a crisis, or something ridiculous happens."

Fry patted her knee. "Don't worry about it. You'll see, whatever he's having to do will be over in no time, and he'll be back with you. Maybe we can make it a double date?"

Amy smiled. "I'd like that. It would be nice to have another couple to go places with and stuff."

"Great!" Fry stood up, and headed for the door. "Well, I better get back to the bridge. I want to make sure I don't screw up at all this time, so see you later?"

"Sure. Let me know if a space battle breaks out, or anything."

"Will do." With that, Fry left her to her own devices, and to watch the tank.

Back on the bridge, Leela was looking over the instruments. She turned to look over her shoulder, as Fry re-entered. "Hey Fry. You get the Insta-bed to Amy alright?"

Crossing the space, Fry sat down in his usual seat. "Yeah. She seemed glad of a little bit of change to the routine. Can't blame her, though. That job sucks."

Leela hummed in agreement, letting her gaze flicker over the velocity controls one more time. Pausing, she sat back in her seat. "Well, all is running smoothly, at least for now."

"Yeah." Fry tapped out a tune on his control panel. "You think there could be any trouble? I mean, we are carrying cargo that we don't even know what it is."

"I'm hoping that there won't be, but considering that this seems to be a high security delivery, there's bound to be some sort of catch. Somebody obviously doesn't want the information about what we're carrying leaking out."

Fry squinted, remembering something that Amy had mentioned. "Speaking of leaking out, Amy says that she thinks that if whatever it is in there leaks out, it could mean something major for us."

Leela's expression tightened. "I guessed that it was dangerous from all of the trouble that Hermes has gone to, and you don't commission a Duratech model for nothing." She checked the directions of the navigational chart she kept by the steering column. "We're roughly halfway there, a bit over in fact. We're making good time so far. I still have a few hours left on my shift, so if you want to go and catch a nap before your shift, feel free."

Fry shook his head, leaning back in his chair. "Nah, I think I'll just stay here for a while."

She shrugged. "Okay then."

In hardly any time, or so it seemed, considering the continued lack of attacks or technical faults, they were a few minutes away from their destination, on Cerul Lume, the single satellite orbiting the planet designated Braksa. It was a veritable haven for researchers of evolutionary growth and study, as it's local lifeforms were at the stage where they were diversifying into hundreds of different species. It was an ongoing scientific outpost for many different fields of scientific development. The research facility that they were travelling towards was dedicated to genetic and biodiversity studies. Bringing the ship in low over the landing docks, the crew sans Amy looked through the front viewing window at the huge construction of metal and flexiglass that lay before them. Fry peered down, his eyes wide and nose pressed to the glass. "Well, it sure looks like a top secret science lab."

Bender rubbed his manipulators together with obvious glee. "Oooh, this is gonna be good."

Sighing, Leela manoeuvred the ship into it's designated moorings. "Now, all of you, remember what Hermes said. This is an important mission, and we need to be professional." She shot a glare at Bender. "And despite what you may be thinking, I expect as little stealing…" Her gaze switched to Zoidberg, "consuming…" Then to Fry, "or goofing off as all of you can manage. Understood?"

A chorus of "yes ma'am", "aye aye captain", and "whatever" followed.

Turning off the main engines, Leela pocketed the keys to the ship, and walked towards the door to the main section of the ship. "Good. Now, come on, we have to keep to schedule."

Moving to the ships stairs, the four found a small welcoming party waiting for them. A tall man with messy brown hair, wearing a grey and black uniform was the first to step forward. "Greetings. I am Joseph Williams, head of security here at research base 15." He gestured to a blonde woman on his left, who was wearing the same uniform. "This is Elissa Morton, she's head of surveillance." Followed by a gesture to a dark haired man on his right, who's uniform was almost identical, save for a blue sash across his chest. "And this is Thomas Vines, he will be your escort while you are here."

Holding out her hand, Leela extended her own welcome. "Hi, I'm Captain of the Planet Express ship, Turanga Leela, and this is our delivery boy, Philip Fry…"

"… but you can call me Fry."

"…our physician, Doctor John Zoidberg…"

"…Hello to you all!"

"…and our… um… company chef, Bender Rodriguez."

"…Best in the business, that's me."

Joseph shook each of their hands/claws in turn. "Pleased to meet you all."

Leela smiled. "Thank you. Our engineer, Amy Wong, is currently keeping an eye on the cargo. We have it secured in the cargo bay. We understand you have transportation for the tank?"

"Yes, Elissa, would you mind fetching the Bug?" Elissa nodded, and headed off down an intersecting hallway that led off the docking bay. Joseph gestured after her. "She'll only be a moment."

Zoidberg looked after her with considerable interest shining in his eyes. "Would this 'Bug' be edible, possibly?"

Thomas, who up to this point had remained silent, shook his head with a chuckle. "Sorry, doctor. 'Bug' is just an affectionate nickname we use for the heavy duty transport pod. You'll soon see why."

Indeed, only a few seconds later, the huge, beetle-like hover transport came from the hallway where Elissa had exited. Slowly, it's bronzed bulk levitated to a stop by the side of the PE ship. Opening the cab door, Elissa stuck her head out. "Ready to load when you are."

Turning to her crew, Leela gave her instructions. "Fry, you go and get ready to winch the tank out. Zoidberg, lower the cargo elevator and then help Bender unsnap the clamps to the tank, and Bender… no arguments. Got it?"

In unison, they all answered. "Got it."

Turning, they headed into the ship, leaving Leela with the three base personnel. Turning to them, Leela looked up vaguely at the Bug. "So, are you able to tell us what it is we've brought here?"

"Sorry, but we don't have the clearance for that." Joseph smiled apologetically. "But you will be told as soon as the tank is secured in the labs."

Nodding, Thomas added to the comment. "That's right, I'm sure Doctor Oltar will be willing to explain the situation to you."

"Oltar?" Leela asked. "He's a doctor? I assumed that Zoidberg would be the only medical personnel present."

Thomas shook his head. "Oh, no. But he's strictly dedicated to research, rather than actual hands on application."

At that moment, the cargo bay floor began to lower with a whir of gears, and the hissing of hydraulics. It reached the floor and connected with a soft thud of metal on metal. Zoidberg and Bender were already busily unsnapping clamps from the foot of the tank. Amy stood nearby, clipboard in hand, her Insta-bed already packed away in a corner of the cargo hold, and Fry stood by the magnetic winch, poised and ready to do his part. Amy gave Leela the thumbs up. "As soon as it's free to move, we can winch the tank over, no problem. All gauges read normal."

Hearing this, Elissa started up the sequence to open the Bug's back hatch, again, looking very much like the opening of the wing casings of it's namesake. "Okay, ready to receive!"

Firing up the winch, Fry waited till Zoidberg and Bender were clear, before attaching the huge magnet to the top of the tank, and turning up the power. Repeating the process by which he had put the tank into the ship back home, he transferred it to the back of the Bug. He grinned as he returned the winch to standby. "There. No problem."

"Good work, Fry." Leela complimented, noting that he had done it without direct supervision from herself or Amy.

Thomas and Joseph finished securing the tank into the Bug with clamps and straps made from sudo-metal compounds. Brushing off his hands, Joseph climbed into the cab next to Elissa. "Right. We'll take this on ahead, Thomas, we're heading to West lab. Meet us there and we'll see to the paperwork and questions there."

Nodding, Thomas turned to the crew, who were now all gathered by the lowered cargo bay platform. "Well, let's make a move, the Bug may be slower than most transports, but it moves faster than we can walk, so we better start making our way."

So saying, the crew, led by Thomas, made their way through the winding corridors of the base. On their way Thomas pointed out various labs and containment areas that were used for everything from studying single cell lifeforms, to cultivating a more productive kind of root vegetable. Bender, once finding that there was hardly anything worth stealing, finally gave up on his plan to use Zoidberg as a decoy experiment to confuse the scientists, and resorted to the age old childish pastime of asking every couple of seconds, "are we there yet?" At least until Leela lost her temper and threatened him with a very painful deactivation if he didn't quit it.

Once reaching the lab, they were met by Joseph, and a very small, and very wrinkled man wearing a white lab coat that dragged on the floor. Joseph smiled at the group and gestured to the scientist by his side. "Hello again to you all. This is Doctor Oltar. Doctor, these are the Planet Express employees who delivered the tank to us, and who will be transporting you and your team to Earth."

Oltar smiled at them, causing some very strange effects with his wrinkled skin that could only be rivalled by the professor. "Greetings." His voice was unusually high pitched, but was clear and confident. "It is good to see that you arrived safely."

Fry peered closely at him. "Yeah, we are too. Um, are you sure you're okay to be travelling that far, I mean…" He trailed off, seeing a warning look coming from Leela. "Uh… I mean with the stresses of travelling and all…"

The diminutive scientist laughed, the good natured sound putting Leela at her ease. "Not to worry yourself, young man. I am perfectly capable of travelling. In fact, In my short lifetime I have barely touched upon the unforetold distances of the universe."

Bender scoffed. "Short lifetime? By the looks of you I'd say your life has been about as short as a century, pal." It was his turn to receive Leela's glare of doom. "What? It's true, just look." He gestured to Oltar's face. "See?"

Oltar put up a hand. "Please…" He looked questioningly at Leela. "Forgive me, I haven't heard your name yet?"

She looked a little shamefaced at Bender's conduct. "My name is Leela, doctor. I am captain of this crew."

He nodded. "Ah, yes, of course. Leela. I can understand where your metallic crewman might get the idea that I am elderly, and your red haired colleague also. But I assure you all that it is merely my genetic make up that causes me to appear as you see me. You see, I am of a race known as Ropuri. We all appear this way. But it is true, I am over one hundred and twenty years in age. But it is not unusual for my kind to live beyond six hundred years. So, I am comparatively young compared to some of my kind in such high positions as myself."

Feeling a little comforted by the scientist's kind understanding of the situation, Leela nodded. "Well, now that's cleared up, I would like to introduce my crew." After the introductions were once again completed, she turned back to business. "Doctor, forgive me for being forward, but we have come a great distance, without knowing what it is we have been transporting, and we were promised more information on our arrival here. Please, could you tell us what is happening?"

Looking thoughtful, Oltar paused. "Let us finish the paperwork for the delivery, and then we can concentrate on explanations. Do you have the papers?"

"Yes." Leela produced the folded paperwork, and presented it to the doctor. "It should all be in order. Your signature is required on the last page, at the bottom."

Oltar scanned the paperwork, reading over the delivery specifications, instructions, and checklists. Nodding, he took out a pen. "This is fine." Scribbling his signature in the appropriate box. Handing it back to her, he smiled. "Now, back to your question. Before I start, how much have you been told already?"

Fry shrugged. "Not much. Just that it's top secret, and that people might panic if everyone knew about it. Oh, and that we needed to keep it safe and Zoidberg had to be here."

Oltar's eyes narrowed in thought. "Hmm, so the basics only. Good." He glanced at Leela. "So none of you know anything about the outbreak?"

Amy blinked in confusion. "Outbreak? What kind of outbreak?"

Turning, Oltar gestured for the group to follow him. "Come, I think this would best be demonstrated by showing you what was brought to us a couple of weeks ago." The procession moved down a darkly lit corridor to their immediate left. "The outbreak that I speak of has taken place in your city of New New York over the past month or so. It's effects started before this, but was only brought to light recently."

"What effects are they, doctor? We haven't noticed anything majorly out of the ordinary." Leela's eye widened slightly as a thought hit her. "It's not about the hoop skirts is it?"

Oltar shook his head. "No. Although I almost wish it was. This is something much more serious, and much harder to pinpoint at the source. Have you noticed anything odd about any disappearance of waste products or food lately?"

"Yeah." Amy chipped in. "But we just figured that Zoi—I mean, someone had been taking more than he usually does."

Zoidberg trilled indignantly. "Zoidberg has noticed that the waste has been missing from the dumpster at the back of the building." He looked to the ground and lowered his warble to a barely audible whimper. "Zoidberg misses his feast."

Fry, being nearest to the depressed lobster, was the only one to hear him. Patting his back comfortingly, he added to the conversation. "But what does that have to do with any of this?"

"Quite simply, my boy, it has everything to do with it. Food stuffs, both waste and not, have been disappearing at an alarming rate for a good while. No one was sure of the cause, until recently. A maintenance crew was investigating sudden abnormalities that had been causing the underlying foundations of one of the transport tubes to become unstable. They tracked the problem to a support system that was deep below the surface of the street, in the sewers of the city. It was there that one of the workers found a hidden stash of articles of rotten food hidden in a pocket that had been dug beneath the support beam for the tubes. While trying to remove the waste, he was attacked by the creature that had used that hole for it's food store. The attack was so violent that the man was dead without hope of treatment." Oltar stopped by a large viewing window. There was metallic mesh running through the thick glass, so that in the event of the glass breaking, whatever was contained within could not escape. "The creature that killed the unfortunate man was subdued only by ending it's own life. Another of the monstrous creatures appeared soon after the demise of it's fellow, but was significantly smaller and easier to preserve. It was contained, and brought here for study. Due to our advanced genetic and biological understanding, it was thought that we would be better equipped to find out what it was, how it came to be, and how to neutralise the problem."

Amy leaned closer to the glass, trying to see into the darkened depths of the room beyond. "What do you mean by, what it is? Wasn't that obvious when you got a good look at it?"

"At first appearances, yes, but the sheer size and conformation of the creature, not to mention it's abnormal level of aggression, prove that it is no ordinary member of it's species." Oltar tapped the glass. "We have to keep it in secure confinement and feed it through non-invasive means in order to prevent injury or risk of letting it escape into the facility. The tank that you have transported here contains chemicals by which we intend to make a pesticide to eliminate this threat. If they are allowed to increase in number, it could be disastrous for the city, not to mention the country."

Leela folded her arms. "Forgive me, doctor. But even if this thing is as dangerous as you say, why would you assume there are more, let alone in the numbers you predict them to be to need a pesticide to reduce their population?"

Oltar smiled. "Because, my dear, of two very simple reasons. Firstly, the rate and magnitude of the loss of food supplies suggests that not only is there a widespread problem, suggesting many culprits of said disappearances, but that there are many mouths to feed. As well as the fact that they seem to have developed a liking for more, shall we say, lively meals. I believe it was recently noted on Earth television that people and assorted animals have been reported missing with no sign of remains being found. And secondly, the sheer fact that the animal this creature seems to have resulted from reproduces very quickly, and with litters of many individuals. Thus, we draw the conclusion that not only are they dangerous on principle, but that they are becoming more outgoing and less afraid of the cities inhabitants. If we don't address the issue now, it may well mean the emergence in the metropolis of a deadly predator that not only has numbers and size on their side, but that do not hesitate to eat anything and everything they come across."

Snorting, Bender shook his head. "I refuse to accept that anything made of flesh and blood could be that dangerous. Now, if it were a robot beast, sure. But it goes against everything I believe in that something squishy could be a threat."

Reaching for a touchpad next to the window, Oltar tapped a few buttons. "Ah, I see you require proof. Well, since you have agreed to silence about this matter, I see no harm in showing you what we have discovered. But I warn you, it is not, as you would say, a pretty sight."

With a hum of electrical energy, the lights in the room behind the glass brightened. Not enough to fully illuminate the room, but to a level akin to a dimly lit room during the day. Despite their misgivings, the crew found themselves with their faces close to the glass, peering through the mesh. In the far corner of the room, there was a dark shape. It shifted nervously, hunching back into the wall. It was roughly the size of a large Alsatian, with a low, curved back. All that could be seen of the rest of it's anatomy was a pair of glowing red eyes. Bender chuckled. "Aww, it's just a dog." Tapping the glass, he made cooing noises. "Here doggy! You're not scary, are you? Huh? Who's a good doggy?"

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you." Joseph, who had accompanied them along the hallway, stepped back a distance from the glass, followed closely by Thomas. Obviously they knew something about what was inside that room.

Zoidberg turned his head, about to ask why this would be a bad thing to do, when there was a skittering sound from inside the room. He turned back just in time to see a sight that made him shriek with fright and hide behind Amy for protection. "Aaaaah!"

Fry, Leela, Bender, and Amy with Zoidberg firmly attached to her leg, jumped back from the glass, as a hissing monster crashed into the protective barrier. It was a huge, deformed looking black rat. It's claws were at least the size of a switchblade and twice as sharp, as it gouged out huge scratches in the glass, catching the mesh inside causing a shrieking sound akin to nails on a chalk board. It's jaws snapped at the glass, spittle flying as it tried to bite it's way through. Most terrifying, next to the huge razor sharp teeth it was using to attempt to get at them, was the sheer look of hatred and madness shining in it's blazing fire-like eyes. Champing and squealing, it futilely beat itself against the glass, slashing and tearing at the wires it uncovered, it fought to get to them with all of it's considerable strength. Smiling grimly, Oltar pressed another button, and the chamber behind the glass filled with a noxious looking green gas. Slowly, the rat became sluggish, it's movements weaker, sinking to the floor of the room, unconscious. "You see? Vicious, and with enough strength to gnaw through a good portion of the glass barrier."

Fry, his eyes wide with horror, remained transfixed at where the snarling monster had been trying to kill them only seconds before. "Oh… snap… I think that New New York is royally boned this time…"


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that are recognisable. They either belong to James Herbert or Futurama. All original characters are my property.

Author's Notes: Despite what this chapter might imply I have not, nor shall I ever, condone animal testing. It is mentioned purely for the purposes of plot progression. Please read and review, all comments and criticisms welcome.

Sighing to himself, Fry rifled through the multitude of different beverages that were contained in the refrigerator provided to them in their temporary quarters. Doctor Oltar had informed them that tests needed to be run on the chemicals that they had delivered, and that he would come and collect them once it was possible to view the results. Fry just hoped that whatever it was that the wrinkled scientist was going to do would work. He didn't like the idea of hundreds, possibly thousands of those… things running around the city eating people. Finally grasping hold of a can of Slurm, he shut the refrigerator door and turned to sit at the table. Bender, who had been the first to recover from the shock of what they had just seen, was sitting at the far side of the table, happily puffing on a cigar. Amy had disappeared into the bathroom and hadn't come out yet. Zoidberg was cowering in a corner of the kitchen, and Leela… Leela was looking particularly perturbed as she sat nearest to Fry at the table. Her face was unusually pale, and she was staring fixedly at her hands as they lay on the table. Disconcerted by her lack of movement, Fry touched her arm gently. "Um… Leela, are you okay?"

"How?" Her voice was barely a whisper, as she turned her gaze on him. "How could something like that even happen? That monster…. How could it have gone so far without anyone having reported it?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. But technically, people have been reporting it. Just not for people seeing or being attacked by those giant rat thingies."

The bathroom door opened, and Amy finally emerged, her face a little pale, and a slight tinge of green to her skin. "Hey… sorry about that. I just got a little freaked by that thing." She shuddered. "It was horrible."

"Yeah." Fry sipped at his drink. "Do you think that that Oltar guy will be able to come up with a way to get them all? I mean if they are running around underground, it's gonna be pretty hard to find them all, isn't it?"

Amy shrugged. "I wouldn't think so. These people are the best with genetics that the universe has to offer. They have a specimen, so making a tracker to focus specifically on the DNA of these things shouldn't be too hard. How much it would cost for that kind of technology will be the big problem."

Bender scoffed, flicking his spent cigar at Zoidberg, who cringed away from it. "Bah! It's pointless anyway. Those things won't be able to hurt me, so I'm good."

Fry glared at him. "And what about the rest of us? They could kill everyone in the city if they got loose. And you saw what it did to that glass. Maybe it won't be able to destroy you, but it'll take a good chunk of you away with it."

Bender paused for a moment, considering what his friend had just pointed out. "Good point. So, how much will this tracker cost, do ya think?"

"Could be in the hundreds of millions." Amy sat down. "It's not going to be cheap. Even mom and dad wouldn't be able to spring for one of them lightly. They'd have to really want to get it made to hand out that much."

Fry rubbed his chin. "You think they might be convinced if it were to keep you safe?"

Amy shook her head. "Nah, they'd just have me shipped back to Mars, most likely. They're essentially good people at heart, but that much money would only be viable if I had been kidnapped and held in the city with one of those things ready to rip me apart."

"That could be arranged, you know." Bender stated, rather seriously. "All it would take is a video camera, a bit of acting on your part, and we could ask that wrinkled geek if we could borrow that specimen of his…"

"No Bender." Amy folded her arms. "No kidnapping plots."

"But it would be so easy, and we could always ask these guys to grow back any body parts you might lose…"

Fry drank down the last of his Slurm. "Amy's right Bender. No plots for kidnapping."

Bender slumped back in his chair, his arms crossed. "Stupid flesh bags… always sticking together…"

Ignoring Bender's mutinous, and somewhat irrational mumblings, Fry returned to the topic at hand. "So where would they get the money for it?" Amy shrugged, so he turned to ask Leela, who had been suspiciously quiet throughout this portion of the conversation. "What do you think, Lee- Leela? Are you okay?"

It was quite obvious, even to Fry, that she wasn't, but the question begged to be asked. Her face was even more ash-grey than a few minutes ago, and her stare had become more intense, rather than simply vacant. Her hands were clenched into fists, and she looked as if she might faint any second. At the sound of his voice, she turned to put that disturbingly focused look at him. "The sewers…"

Bender, having quickly gotten over his minor tantrum, pulled a bottle of beer from the refrigerator. "Yeah, the dark, damp and icky places below ground level. What about them?"

Shooting him a death glare, Leela thumped a hand on the table. "Don't you get it? Those things are down in the sewers! Oltar said that's where that one was found."

Bender swigged from his bottle. "Yeah, so?"

Finding herself unable to answer, she looked around, hoping that one of the others had picked up on what she was trying to get at with this. Surprisingly enough, it was Fry that was the first to respond. "Your parents. They live in the sewer." She nodded, trying desperately to not break down any further. "Don't worry Leela, I'm sure they're fine. If they had noticed anything I'm sure they can hold their own. I mean, they're tough, just like you."

She managed to crack a small smile. "Thanks, Fry. But I'm going to make sure to call them first thing when we get back."

Amy cocked her head. "Why not call them now?"

Leela sighed, running a hand over her face. "I wish I could, but this is a top secret facility. If we called anyone from here, the signal would be traceable back here to the source. Even the delivery order was relayed through ten separate organisations in order to get to us. They take no chances with security risks."

Fry crushed his empty can, and made a shot at the recycle chute at the far end of the kitchen, missing by a few inches. Frowning, he got up and popped it manually in the open hatchway. "Don't worry, Leela. Like I said, they'll be fine. I'm sure of it."

Seemingly mollified for the time being, Leela rested her arms on the table, leaning forward. Seeing that Fry had successfully calmed her, at least for the moment, Amy tapped her fingers on her leg. "So, how long do you think that Doctor guy will be?"

Zoidberg shuddered, scuttling under the table to search for any crumbs Fry may have dropped from a biscuit he had eaten a few minutes earlier. "Hopefully not yet. Zoidberg would rather not see that monster again for a long time, he would."

Leela, finally feeling stable enough to take part in the conversation calmly, spoke up. "Well, I don't think it will take that long. He seems to know what he's doing."

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door to their room. Zoidberg groaned. "You had to wish it to be soon, didn't you?"

Ignoring him, Leela was on her feet in less than a second, and opening the door to the familiar face of Thomas. "Hey there. The Doc says he's all set to share the results of the tests with you, if your ready?"

"We were ready the instant that thing jumped at us." Fry confirmed. "Lead on."

Taking them along more hallways, which seemed to be a common fixture of scientific or beurocratic facilities, Thomas escorted them to the main section of West Lab, where they found Doctor Oltar peering into a microscope. Sensing their approach, the small scientist looked in their direction and smiled. "Ah, dear friends, come. I have some interesting results to show you."

Approaching, Zoidberg looked warily around, following closely behind Amy, who was trying to keep her distance from him, considering how hard it had been to pry him off her leg before. "You aren't going to show us that monster again?"

"Well, I am, in a manner of speaking." Seeing the decapodians look of utter horror, he clarified. "That is to say, I am going to show some of the creature's cell structures."

Not wanting this to take any longer than it had to, Leela jumped in. "You have found out how to get rid of the rats?"

"I believe so. We have tried many different methods, including ancient rodenticides from centuries ago that included anticoagulants, zinc phosphide, and calciferols. You can see their effects here." Oltar gestured to the three identical microscopes placed near the one he had been using. "Here, see for yourselves."

Leela stepped to the microscope on the far right. Peering into it, she pursed her lips. "So these are the cells from that rat-thing?"

Oltar nodded, approaching with a miniature syringe. "Yes. Now watch as I apply a dose of anticoagulant to this fresh sample." He squirted a small amount of solution on the plate beneath the lens. "Observe."

Looking back into the apparatus, she frowned. "Strange."

Curiosity peaked, as was his normal state, Fry couldn't help but ask. "What's strange?"

She gestured to the microscope she had used. "The cells in this sample seem to be liquefying and then returning to solid state almost simultaneously."

He blinked at her. "They're doing what?"

Bender sighed. "they're going runny and then going back to normal straight afterwards."

"Ah." Fry nodded. "Like the eggs from that nuclear chicken the professor bought last month."

Turning to the doctor, Leela asked. "Why is that happening? I thought that the cells were supposed to break down and be unable to stabilise themselves again?"

Oltar shook his head. "Ordinarily, yes. But this animal has been exposed to radiation levels that we have previously considered lethal for any organism. Oddly enough, most of the radiation signatures are so deeply ingrained in the tissues that they appear to be connected to the animal on the genetic level. Meaning that this creature has evolved with this radiation over many generations. It is a part of the creature itself and protects it from destabilising influences that may harm it. Hence, the cells recombine to form healthy structures instantly."

Amy blanched. "Is that even possible?"

"Yes. Apparently, it is." Oltar moved to the next microscope. "This sample was exposed to a gas produced from oxidising zinc phosphide. As can clearly be seen, the cells have fought off the effects and have ejected the harmful toxins created by the gas."

Fry, who was the closest to the microscope, stepped forwards and looked into it. "Yuck! It looks like those cell thingies have had one major party. They're all lying in pools of yellowish stuff."

"That would be the toxins." Oltar smiled at the description Fry had provided, as he gestured to it. "Again, the radiation seems to have provided the animal with the ability to eject harmful substances foreign to itself, so tailoring a phosphide gas to affect rodents specifically, would only kill off all inoffensive fauna in the area in the order rodentia."

Bender didn't even wait for the confused expression to surface on Fry's face. "It would kill off all the good ratty things and not the big, ugly, killer ones."

"Oh." Fry waved a hand at the slide he had just looked at. "No point in doing that then."

Oltar moved to the third microscope. "And this is the last test we ran, introducing a calcifying agent to the cells." He motioned for Zoidberg to come forward, as he used a second syringe to apply said agent to the slide. "Perhaps you would best appreciate the effects this particular one has, Doctor."

Puffing himself up importantly, Zoidberg approached. "Yes, after all, I am a medical Doctor who knows medical things." Looking into the microscope, he trilled. "Hmm, the little barnacle-looking particles have formed shells, and now they are shedding their shells. Perhaps they are in their moulting season?"

Blinking slightly confusedly at his fellow practitioner's observation, Oltar faltered only for a second. "Uh, yes, the calcifying agent was also rejected. Causing the shells, as you put it, to form on their exteriors. They hardened outer covering is then forced away from the cells and falls away. Ordinarily, this process should cause the cells to become hardened and inactive, basically fossilising them in a matter of a few minutes. But, as the good doctor observed, it has not worked as it should."

"So how are we expected to stop these things?" Amy questioned. "Obviously you've tried everything that people have already found to kill off rats."

Returning to his confident demeanour, Oltar walked to the last microscope, the one that he had been using himself when the crew had approached him. "True enough, my dear. But don't worry yourself too much. Despite the difficulties still to come, and there shall be difficulties, we do have a way of getting rid of these monstrosities."

Fry leant against the worktop on which the microscopes were standing. "But how, doc? You've showed us that none of these work."

"Again, true. But we have only been trying outside forces. Something to invade and destroy. What we hadn't considered before was exploiting something already present in the creature, that could be boosted. It's natural immunity to the element that we have found will essentially be nullified. This," he tapped the microscope he had returned to, "is how we intend to wipe out this menace."

Fry squinted, trying hard to understand what was being said. "So you're saying that you can give power to something the rat already has that doesn't hurt it now, that will hurt it once you do something to it?"

"Basically put, yes." Oltar tapped the worktop. "It was found that, like many lesser and unchanged members of the rodent family, this creature contains trace amounts of certain illnesses inherent to the breed. Despite what people have perceived about rats in the past, most are, as a rule, without harmful disease or are not given the opportunity to present these diseases, such as a pet rat. It is their living conditions, the mites and ticks they gain throughout life, and general liking for unsavoury places that provide them with the means to perpetuate their bad reputation."

Leela frowned, trying to work out just what the scientist was getting at. "So… what you're saying is, that your going to awaken some illness in the rats that will kill them…?"

Oltar shook his head, a patient smile on his face, making his wrinkles bunch around his eyes. "No. Forgive me. I get so caught up in the details I forget to speak plainly. What I am proposing is to use the genetic markers engrained into this particular species of rat to act as a trigger."

"A trigger?" Bender huffed and folded his arms. "A trigger to what? You're still not making much sense, doc."

"Oh, but I am, I think. The trigger is for this." The doctor again indicated the microscope. "This slide has been treated with a compound created with the chemical that you brought with you, mixed with a few others that we have here in storage. The result is an… Well, I suppose its classification would be a reactive acid. Place it in an item of bait, such as a piece of food. The food is then eaten by a creature. The food will be digested leaving the compound to enter the body intact. It will then spread around the body as would any other ingested nutrients, through the bloodstream. At which point it will enter the cells of the animal. If the creature is the same species as our specimen, then the compound will be activated and aggressively attack the cells. This will result in a complete and near instantaneous meltdown."

"And by meltdown, you mean…" Fry made a wiggling gesture with his fingers as if something was melting and falling to the floor in droplets. "Like wet popcorn."

Oltar grinned. "A rather accurate analogy, if a bit basic. Yes, the creatures should melt within an instant of the activation of the compound. The initial digestion and subsequent travel around the body can take between two to four hours. After studying our little friend, it is obvious to us that they have a very aggressive metabolism and absorb their food at a remarkable rate. This of course results in their incessant hunger. The process is so sudden once it starts that the creature will feel no pain. In fact it won't realise a thing has happened at all. It seems drastic, but it is as humane as we could make it considering the circumstances."

Looking relieved, if a little sickened at the thought of melting rat (unlike Zoidberg, who just looked intrigued) Leela waved a hand at the microscope. "So it really works? You've tested it?"

"In a roundabout way. Yes. We have not, of course, destroyed our only member of the species currently in our facility. That would prove more detrimental than beneficial. Nevertheless, we have conducted intensive tests on the creature's eating habits. We have also taken blood samples and the like to determine it's metabolic rate. As to the compound, we have used diluted samples on the cell cultures obtained from the rat, as higher concentrations would eat through anything it touches within the first three seconds. After those initial moments it becomes non-reactive." He smiled amusedly. "You wouldn't believe how many work tables we went through to discover that fact."

"But how do we get the compound into the food and get it to all of the rats?" Fry asked. "It's not like they eat at the same restaurant."

Oltar nodded. "Quite so. That will be the more challenging and dare I say, dangerous, part of the whole procedure. We can get the compound into any form of food that these rodents might eat, barring that of bone and shell, they are too dense in their makeup and would reduce digestion speed." At which point, Zoidberg flinched and made a grab for Amy's leg again, but was thwarted by a well-placed chair in that instant, as Amy reacted to his lunge at her. Seeing as he had grabbed hold of the chair leg anyway, he decided to stay there, nearly cracking the metal in his fear. "But any other substance, meat, fish, vegetable matter, and so forth, is a viable option." He leaned against the worktop. "The danger comes in when you consider the presentation of the baited food to the rats. Rodent behaviour being what it is, it means that the bait will have to be consumed by a large amount of rodents at virtually the same time."

"So where's the danger?" Bender cut in. "Open a sewer grate near their nest or whatever, dump the food in and watch them pig out and burst like the disgusting blood blisters that they are."

Oltar shook his head. "I wish it were that simple. We have no idea of the social structure of the colony, or even if there is only one. There may be more than one main site for the family clans. Add to that the fact that once a rat has sampled the bait and succumbed to it in the presence of others who have yet to eat it, they will not touch the bait. This is a one time only deal. If we fail, I doubt we will get chance to try again for a number of months. These rats seem very intelligent and unusually long lived, if our specimen is anything to go by. He has injuries that have been inflicted over the top of other wounds which are faded to the extent that they must have been caused a while ago."

Leela pursed her lips thoughtfully. "So what you're saying is, we have to try and gather the rats in one place, then get them to eat the bait all at the same time?"

Amy shook her head. "How would that be done? If this has spread as far as you think it has, there could be millions upon millions of them."

Oltar rested his back against the worktable. "Therein lies the major problem. We have worked out a plan, but achieving it is the difficulty."

"What is the problem, perhaps we can help?" Fry, his ever optimistic outlook on life bringing forth the question that burned on Leela's tongue before she herself could voice It. She shot him a grateful look. Any help they could provide would mean that she could keep an eye on this situation without having to resort to forceful tactics.

Oltar scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Yes… I believe you can. We are due to transport to Earth tomorrow morning. By then we should have produced enough of the compound to be effective for this task. It would be beneficial to have people familiar with the area that are already involved… Our teams are good at what they do, but they have not been to New New York in many years and have no recent knowledge of it's layout. Blueprints are all very well, but actual knowledge is invaluable." He nodded. "Yes, that would be acceptable. And hopefully we will have come up with a way to gather the rodents by then."

Bender, who had pulled out yet another cigar from his chest, scoffed. "Waste of time, if you ask me. Just gas the whole city. The robots will be fine, so where's the problem?"

Ignoring Bender's callous remark, Leela smiled at the wrinkled little scientist. "It will be our pleasure to help however we can, Doctor."

"Good. Well, there is little more that you can do here for the moment. So feel free to explore the public areas of the facility at your whim. Of course the off limits sections are clearly marked and protected, so I would advise on steering clear. I have heard that those force fields pack quite a punch." He smiled at Bender. "Even to robots."

"Humph!" Bender turned and stomped off, cigar in hand. Whether to just sulk or to prove the scientist wrong was anyone's guess.

Before Leela could open her mouth to call him back or to send one of the crew after him, Fry spoke up, demonstrating for the second time that day, his ability to sense her mood. "Don't worry, I'll go with him. I don't want to make these guys mad at any of us, so it's best if I make sure he stays out of trouble."

She nodded, smiling at him gratefully. "Good idea. Thanks, Fry."

With a wave he exited after his metallic best friend, leaving the others to disperse around the facility. Amy headed towards the bio-engineering segment of the building, where matter met with metal to form new medical improvements in the field of cybernetics and implants.

Zoidberg, true to form, soon forgot his fear to pursue another of his natural states. Hunger. Releasing his hold of the chair, he followed his nose (or at least his approximation of a nose) to the main cafeteria, where he proceeded to give the scientists a fascinating example of how it is possible to eat fifteen times your own body weight in food (both edible and non-edible to most beings) and not keel over dead. Needless to say most were baffled, and a few were even impressed.

Leela strayed around for a while, but inevitably found herself looking at displays that chronicled the evolutions of thousands of species throughout the known universe. Desperately she buried her concentration in facts about survival and predation in an attempt to forget her fear and worry over her parents.

Would tomorrow bring any better news? None of the crew knew. One thing was for sure, though, whatever happened they were in for one hell of a fight.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Futurama or Domain. Wish to, but don't. All I hold dear is an Andrex Guide Dog puppy toy who I named Carli.

Author's Notes: Thank you so very much to Mel, my first, and currently only reviewer for this story. Your kind review meant so much to me, that I dedicate this next chapter to you.

Come on you other guys, Please, please review. Even if it is only one word. *puppy dog eyes* Pleeease? (holds up puppy toy for extra effect)

Bender stomped away from the lab, cursing all greasy meatbags in mumbling tones. "Stupid know-it-all skintube… Tell me what to do, will he... Show him…"

Fry followed along behind him, gazing idly at the rooms on either side of the corridor. Most were empty storage space, but a few had interesting looking machines, crates, and some even had experiments going on at that moment. Fry's curiosity was begging to be satisfied, urging him to leave Bender to carry on his rant alone and go and investigate a few of these rooms. He shook his head. No, Leela was trusting him to do his job, and that meant keeping an eye on Bender, wherever he ended up leading them. "Hey, Bender? Where are you going, anyway?"

Bender stopped in mid-stride, as if someone had hit the pause button and the frame had frozen. Slowly his head turned to face Fry. "To loot, of course." He tried to sound confident, but only managed to sound unsure of the answer, as if he didn't actually know. "There's gotta be something good around here, somewhere."

Fry shrugged. "Maybe there is, but you know what Hermes and Leela said."

"Pffft." Bender waved a manipulator. "With those rat things taking up all the attention, I don't think anyone will miss a few select items going missing."

"I don't know." Fry squinted at his friend. "I think they will. After all, look at the trouble everyone went to in order to keep news about the rats quiet. Anything you take could be really important."

Bender's tone was overly sarcastic as he rolled his eye sensors. "Uh, yeah, that's why I wanna nab them, Fry, because they're probably important."

"But what if the scientist guys find out you took something? They'll call in the DOOP, and Leela'll have to activate that chip thingy that makes you act properly. And she'll be mad at me and won't go on a date with me when we finish the mission." That thought seemed to snap Fry out of his relaxed attitude and into a business-like mode. "So, no Bender. No stealing, looting or nabbing."

"But…"

"No. Not this time. I gave my word to try my best and behave on this mission, and I meant it."

Bender would have scowled had his face had that kind of mobility. "Oh… Alright. If you're going to get all goody-goody about it. Takes all the fun out of things, morals, not worth having the programming done to get them…" Bender began his march again, blindly walking off into yet another rant.

Fry shook his head. Bender would never change. Starting after his robotic companion, Fry found that he didn't have to go far. Bender had marched straight into a trolley pushed by a scientist. The young man yelped as his push cart, along with all of its contents, spilled onto the floor. Bender landed on his back with a loud clang. "Ooof! Hey, what's the big idea?!"

The young man, a rather nervous looking fellow, was about Fry's age (physiological, not actual) , with a pair of round glasses perched on his nose. He took off said glasses and cleaned them on his lab coat fretfully. "Oh my… Please excuse me, sir. I didn't see you coming."

Bender grumbled. "Well, are you just going to stand there, or are you going to help me up?!"

Fry shook his head and bent, wedging his hands under the left side of Bender's casing. Looking up to the scientist, he smiled. "Mind lending me a hand?"

The man jumped as if burned by a hot iron. "Oh… Oh! Yes! Yes, of course!"

Immediately he bent, forcing his hands under Bender's right side. With a nod from Fry, both men heaved as hard as they could. Finally with a grunt they managed to get Bender partially upright, at which point he took over, righting himself by getting his legs back underneath him and levering his weight up. "About time!" He groused, squinting at the scientist. "What were you doing running about with a trolley in the hall anyway?"

The scientist, clearly flustered at the direct question, was unable to form a full reply. "Me? Running? Well… you see…"

Fry glared at Bender. "Ease up on the guy, Bender. It wasn't his fault. You walked straight into him."

Bender huffed. "Skintubes, always sticking together…" But knowing that he was in the wrong, he backed down, for the moment. "I still wanna know what all this stuff was for." Bender gestured to the items strewn all over the hallway floor.

His curiosity peaked once more, Fry turned his eyes to the scientist, who was looking down at the mess with an expression of dismay. "Yeah, what is all this stuff for?"

"Hmm? These? They were for Professor Tain in the botany department. We're looking at the secretions used by various types of meat-eating plants."

Bender perked up. "Plants that eat meat? Would this include, oh I don't know… humans?"

The young scientist bubbled with enthusiasm at this, obviously passionate about his work. "Oh yes! We have a particularly impressive specimen of Sporciluis Vestibaranta in the green lab at the moment. Last week it devoured one of the night personnel. We didn't realise until a few days afterwards when it deposited his uniform in the waste tub."

"Really…" Bender looked hopeful, and that gave Fry a sinking feeling in his gut. "Would we be able to see this specimen?"

"I should think so. It's not classified or anything like that. In fact, the plant is very common on Resaris III…"

Bender began picking up the spilled items at double speed, and placed them back on the righted trolley, before slinging one of his arms around the scientist's shoulders. "Right, let's go and see this plant, huh? What's your name, friend? You can call me Bender, the great, that is."

"My name…? It's Melvin, Melvin Swithe."

Fry watched them walk off ahead, Melvin pushing his re-stocked trolley in front of him. Whatever Bender had gotten into his head, it couldn't be good. Picking up his pace, he hurried after them, not letting them out of his sight.

Impressive wasn't exactly the word Fry would have used to describe the enormous plant that lay before him. Scary as hell was a better description. Especially when you got a look at those spines. "So, this is that vestibiwhatsit?" Fry enquired, gazing up at the huge bulb that formed the main body of the plant.

"Yes, this is the Sporciluis Vestibaranta that I mentioned before." Melvin stood beside Fry, eyeing the plant like a proud parent. "I have tended it along with the others working in this lab since it was only a seedling."

"Can't really ever imagine this thing being small." Fry mused, gazing up the height of the green mass before him. "It must be at least twenty feet tall."

"Twenty two feet three inches, to be exact. It started off about as long as your arm." Melvin beamed. "We have certainly brought it a long way from then. They don't usually flourish in a laboratory, but this one has."

"I'll say…" Fry commented distractedly, his attention caught by Bender, who was inspecting the huge bulb-like part of the plant that held what only could be described as a mouth. Not unlike a Venus flytrap from his own world, this breed of carnivorous plant had interlacing prong-like teeth that held the opening of the 'jaw' closed. The cavern within the bulb was just big enough to hold an average sized man tightly imprisoned. Much like being stuffed into a closet, which Fry could identify with, having received such treatment at the hands of his older brother many times. "Bender, what are you doing?"

Bender ignored the question, instead directing one at Melvin. "So you say this thing eats people?"

"Not as a rule." Melvin smiled ruefully. "It just so happened to grab a hold of the security guard. Usually it eats smaller prey. About the size of a sheep or goat, for example. On it's home planet it survives on a large rodent-like mammal called a Furtig. It uses the sap-like secretion in the bowl of the bulb to attract the creatures to it, whereupon it closes the outer casing of the bulb, trapping the Furtig inside. It can take anywhere from a day to a week to digest the prey, depending on climate conditions and the health of the plant."

"But could it be trained to eat humans?" Bender asked, seemingly oblivious to the sudden look of concentration that came over Fry's face. "Say… by chucking it a few every now and then."

"I suppose…" Melvin didn't sound entirely sure, and gave Bender a strange look before averting his attention to Fry. "Are you alright?"

The question was indeed warranted, as the expression on Fry's face spoke of great effort and pain. Bender thought about repeating the worried enquiry, but opted not to. Just in case it ruined his image. Instead he turned back to the plant. "Don't worry Fry. I'm not chucking you to the plant. I need you for other things."

Fry barely spared his robotic friend a look, as he was intent on the thought that had just entered his head. "I'm fine. What did you say they eat?"

"Furtigs." Melvin answered, still rather concerned with the amount of discomfort on Fry's face. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Ignoring the latter part of the comment, Fry shook his head. "Not that part. You said something about them being ro… rod…" He struggled to pronounce the word that his brain recognised as being important.

"You mean rodents?" Melvin asked, his face scrunched up with confusion.

Fry's expression lightened a little. "Yeah, those. That means they're like rats, right?"

"Yes… but why…" Melvin hedged, unsure where the young man was going with this.

"And rodents are rats, right?" Fry asked, his eyes showing how hopeful he was that he had made the right connection between the terms.

"Yes, they are. But why…"

Melvin was caught off guard as Fry grabbed at his wrist, a look of pure elation on his face. "Yes! I knew it!" With that, Fry yanked Melvin after him as he pelted down the corridor that led back towards where he had last seen Oltar. "Come on!"

Bender turned at the sound of running feet, just in time to see the end of Melvin's white lab coat whip around the corner. "Hey! Wait up for me!" He pounded off after them as fast as his hydraulics could take him.

Wasting no time, Fry managed to navigate his way back to the laboratory where the alien scientist had shown them the cell samples he had been testing. Bursting into the room, Fry scanned the people hurriedly, eager to find the diminutive scientist he sought. Spying the wrinkled little man, Fry dragged a protesting Melvin in his direction. "Professor Oltar!"

Looking up from the test tubes he was placing in a display rack, Oltar saw a frantic looking Fry manhandling one of the facility's young lab assistants towards him. "Yes? Fry, wasn't it?"

"Yes…" Fry panted, clearly out of breath from his run along the hallways. Seeing that Melvin was barely breathing heavily, he made a mental note to get into better shape after this mission was over. "Doctor… I brought… answer…"

Oltar put up his hands in a halting gesture. "Easy my boy, easy. Slow down and tell me what it is that has caused you to come to me in such a hurry."

Fry closed his eyes, taking in a few gulping breaths of air to satisfy his screaming lungs, all of the while keeping a tight hold on Melvin's wrist. Finally, he had composed himself enough to speak. Just in time for Bender to come clanging into the room. "Hey! What's the big idea? You don't get to run off and leave me, that's what I do to you, not the other way around."

"I believe he was just about to elaborate." Oltar smiled. "Please, do continue, dear boy."

Fry took another breath before starting. "I've found the answer to the rat problem. Melvin can tell you." He gestured to the young assistant he held captive at his side. "can't you?"

Melvin blinked. "Can I what…? What is this all about?"

Fry frowned impatiently. "Tell him about the rat eating plant-thingy that you have. Tell him how it gets the rats to come to it and stuff."

"You mean the Sporciluis Vestibaranta?" Melvin asked, gingerly pulling his arm from Fry's grip and rubbing his sore wrist. At Fry's eager nod, he continued. "Well, it attracts it's food, mainly of a rodent nature, using a sap secretion. But why is that so important?"

Fry turned his elated expression to Oltar. "See?!"

The scientist's furrowed features creased further as an equally brilliant smile split his face. "Indeed I do."

"I wish I did." Melvin grumbled. "What is this all about?"

"You, my young colleague, have provided us with the answer to a most important problem." Oltar turned his smile on Melvin. "I think it would be prudent if you were transferred to this department in order to help our cause."

"Cause?" Melvin looked as if his head would pop off. "I don't understand, what cause?"

Oltar grinned widely. "Why, the salvation of New New York, and possibly the entire Earth."


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is copyrighted to either Futurama or James Herbert. Sooo wish I did though.

Author's note: Thank you so much to those who have read, and a special thanks to those who reviewed so far. This chapter is dedicated to you. Once again, all comments and suggestions are welcome.

The main room of the West lab was a hive of activity. Since Fry had arrived in a veritable whirlwind of excitement half an hour past, much had been set into motion. Oltar had called his team together with strict instructions to waste no time in getting a sample of sap from Melvin's specimen. Thomas had been called to go and round up the rest of the P.E. crew, while Fry and Bender set about helping Oltar and Melvin set up the equipment to fully analyse the sap sample. Of course, Bender made a show of complaining, but he was just as anxious to find a way to get rid of the rats as anyone else, despite his reluctance to admit it.

Amy was the first to arrive back. She approached the four standing at the main worktable, watching bemusedly as a large vat of brownish-looking syrup was wheeled past. "Hey, what's going on?"

Fry looked up with a wide grin on his face. "Hey Amy. We've found the answer to how to get all the super-rats to come together."

"Really? How?" She cocked her head enquiringly. "I thought it was going to take longer to figure that one out."

Oltar diverted his attention from a set of clear tubes to the conversation. "It would have done, my dear, had not your friend here…" He gestured to Fry. "Not gone wandering around the facility and found the solution for us."

Fry blushed. "Aww, it wasn't like it was hiding, or anything…"

"Yes, but it is often that you cannot see what might be staring you in the face. But luckily for us all, you saw it for what it was." Oltar put a wrinkled hand on Fry's arm. "Credit where credit is due, dear boy."

"What did you see, Fry? dinner?" It was obvious that Zoidberg had arrived, and in usual form too. "Zoidberg wouldn't mind dinner."

Bender snorted, his arms full of heavy duty storage canisters that he was hauling from a transport hover cart to the worktable. "You always think of food at times like this. You organics and your metabolisms…"

Fry started taking the canisters from Bender and placing them in a row on the table, as Amy did the same. "So what is this miracle solution, anyway? You still haven't said."

Fry gestured to yet another vat of the brownish syrup that was being brought to their table. "It's that."

Zoidberg's mouth tendrils quivered. "Aaah, syrup. Delicious syrup."

Fry put a hand on Zoidberg's shoulder, preventing him from diving headfirst into the vat. "No Zoidberg. Sap, not syrup."

"There is a difference?" Zoidberg asked, still eyeing the thick liquid hungrily.

Fry shrugged, turning back to take more canisters from Bender. "Not sure. But we need this sap to make the stuff that's gonna get the rats together."

"Sap?" Amy questioned, examining the vat's contents closely. "It doesn't look like it does much to me. Apart from maybe stick their fur together."

Oltar laughed heartily. "Oh my… It's not the actual sap, child, it's the molecular content that will perform the task. The 'smell' as it were."

At this point Thomas approached with Leela in tow. Fry noted with concern that she looked thoroughly washed out and strained. "Hey Leela. Are you okay?"

Her smile was warm, if a little thin. "Yeah, I've just been wandering around trying to come up with some idea of how to go about dealing with this situation… What's going on? Thomas said it was important that we meet up here."

Thomas nodded. "Those were my instructions. So, what exactly is going on, sir?" He directed his question at Oltar.

Oltar nodded. "Yes, now that we are all gathered I can explain properly. No use in repeating the whole thing, is there?" He motioned to the vat. "It all starts with this secretion from a plant known colloquially as the rodent-catcher, or so I am informed by my colleague." He gestured to Melvin, who blushed and gave an affirming sound. "I was so intent on finding an artificial solution, I failed to take into account a natural one. It is fortunate that young Fry does not seem to suffer from the same problem."

Seeing Leela's puzzled frown in Fry's direction, Amy clarified. "Apparently, Fry found this stuff." She gestured to the vat. "Which has a smell, or something, that will attract the rats to it."

"Really?" Leela sounded a bit sceptical. "Exactly how did you find it, Fry?"

"By accident, really." Fry admitted, smiling wryly. "Bender was ranting about things and bumped into Melvin, who happened to work in the greenhouse lab here. He took us to see this plant…"

"Sporciluis Vestibaranta." Melvin supplied helpfully.

"Yeah, one of those. And it eats rat-like creatures by using this sap stuff to get them to come to it. So I thought if it uses that stuff to make rat-like things come to it, why not make rats come to wherever we want them to go."

There was a moment of silence, before Amy spoke up. "You know, that really is a great idea."

Leela nodded, giving Fry a warm smile. "Yes, it is. But will it work on these particular rats?"

"That is what we are about to test. The plant has been milked for as much sap as we can take without causing the specimen undue stress. I doubt the botany department would be best pleased if their prize representative of the species was to die." Oltar pulled on a pair of film thin gloves and began ladling a few large gobs of sap into each canister. "We are going to attempt to transfer the chemicals into several forms, and test them on the subject to see which is most effective."

"How do you mean 'different forms'?" Amy enquired, her gaze fixed on the occupied canisters, which Oltar was fixing closed with screw-top like lids.

"I mean that we will produce different means of administering the substance, such as a spray, paste, liquid and so on."

"Begging your pardon, sir." Thomas enquired. "But that seems like it would take a long time to accomplish."

Oltar grinned. "Not at all. I don't believe you have ever seen the staff working at full tilt when there is a discovery to be made, have you my boy?"

Thomas shook his head. "No sir. I have only been here for a few months. My transfer came through from the facility on Plexa Minor. They performed weapons testing there, not scientific research."

"Then just watch and see how quickly dedicated scientific minds can get things done." Oltar's grin widened. "We may be on a deadline, but that's how we work best."

And how right he had been. Once the lab workers were set on their task, there was no stopping them. Within a few hours the sap had been examined, chemically analysed, had its individual elements separated and then recombined into different mediums. All lent their hands, if not their scientific expertise, to the task. Canisters were transported, substances transferred into their appropriate delivery systems and finally, it was time to test the results of their labours.

Which is how the P.E. crew found themselves once more in front of the holding room inside which was the object of their labours. The rat was once more hunched into the far corner, its eyes glittering meanly in the dim lighting. Bender slitted his eye-visor to focus his optics on the hunched form. "So where is the wrinkly skintube? I thought he said they were ready to do some tests?"

"I am indeed." Oltar's voice came from just behind him, causing Bender to jump. "Oh, do excuse me."

Bender huffed. "Well, are you gonna do them, or not?"

"Of course. We are about to administer the first test." As the good doctor spoke, a hatch in the side of the rat's cell opened, revealing a hole. "Observe, this is the opening to a tube leading to an identical containment cell filled with pieces of cloth." Oltar indicated the next viewing window as he spoke. "The pieces have been soaked in a liquid solution made from the sap we have collected. The aim is to see if the rat will go to the cloth. It's behaviour so far suggests that it is a wary creature and will not approach new items placed in the immediate environment without significant persuasion. If the sap works as it is supposed to, the rat will need no encouragement from us to enter through the tunnel and into the other cell."

They all watched anxiously, waiting to see if the rat would move. For a few tense moments nothing happened. The rodent shifted uneasily, the sharp, almost intelligent eyes flicking from face to face, as it peered at them through the viewing window. Suddenly, the long pointed nose, which was one of the rodent's main distinguishing features, twitched. The crew, along with Oltar , held their breath as the rat took a step forward, all the while it's nose quivering. It took a second and then a third step towards the opening, the eyes that had gleamed with malice only seconds before becoming glassy and unfocused.

"I think it's working." Fry stage-whispered, his excitement clear for all to hear. "Go on… go on…"

The rat did indeed go on. Slowly increasing in Speed. As it approached, it didn't even hesitate as it scuttled through the tunnel and into the adjoining cell. It's audience moved as it did, following it's progress. They watched, relieved smiles on their faces, as the large rodent dived into the pile of cloth placed in the centre of the room. At once the rat began to look drowsy, and curled up as if to sleep in the centre of the material mound. Amy frowned. "Well, it worked, but it fell asleep. Is that supposed to happen?"

Oltar beamed around at the gathering. "Yes. As a matter of fact it is. As you can imagine, once the plant had caught the prey, it wouldn't want to be damaged by the rodent struggling free. So a secondary effect of the sap's chemical make-up is to induce a state of lethargy, or sleepiness in order to facilitate digestion."

Leela was looking intently at the now dozing creature in the cell. "Which is an added bonus for us."

Fry looked at her enquiringly. "Why's that?"

"Because it means once they all gather in one place, they'll stay gathered." Her expression hardened. "Then we can get rid of them once and for all."

"Leela…" Fry's tone was laced with concern. "Are you sure you're okay with helping to do this?"

"Whether I'm okay or not, it has to be done. And I'd rather be there to make sure everyone is safe than leave it to others. These things are dangerous, to all of us. You, me, my parents…" She turned a soft smile to him. "But thanks for asking."

He placed a consoling hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry Leela. We'll stop them from hurting anyone."

Her smile brightened further, as she put up her hand to cover his, as her gaze drifted back towards the sleeping rat. "I hope so, Fry. I really hope so."


End file.
